A severe human resource gap at the top deck followed by the government's denial in relaxing promotion rules has left state-run United Bank of India in a dire state.
The bank's plan to reach the milestone of Rs 1.5 lakh crore business by March next year faces stiff challenges since it is forced to run the show with just about six general managers who are burdened with three or more departments
The crisis will deepen further in January as half of them will retire by then leaving just about three senior GMs to manage critical verticals like credit, risk management, marketing, priority sector, audit, finance and treasury between them.
"We will face the real challenge when three of our existing GMs retire," said UBI executive director SL Bansal.
Banks with more than Rs 1 lakh crore business are entitled for as many as 20 GMs in the top management team. UBI has crossed Rs 1.33 lakh crore business on September 30.
The situation worsens for the bank as none of the 50-odd deputy GMs are eligible for a promotion at present due to a gap in succession planning earlier years.
Chairman and managing Bhaskar Sen said the situation will continue to be difficult for the next three to four quarters.
"We have charted out a transitory phase for three to six months beginning April 2012. The situation will start normalising from September next year," he said.
The fact that the government has turned down UBI's request for a six months relaxation for DGMs to qualify for the next level did not help the bank. Normally DGMs become eligible for promotion once they put in minimum three years in this capacity.
The ministry of finance feels that promoting people quickly can be counter-productive. The ministry is in fact going to bring about some changes in public sector banks HR policies. It has proposed a maximum of 10 GMs for up to Rs 1.5 lakh crore business.
Bansal has the bank has started firefighting by empowering DGMs with independent charges and it will go to the board for seeking one year of relaxation in the eligibility rule for DGMs.
If the board gives its clearance, 17 of them will qualify for a promotion by December and another seven by April next year, Bansal said.
"We have started grooming them by giving them independent charges. They will be fully prepared to take higher responsibilities by the time some of reach to the next level," the executive director said.
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